I had seen a plant, a few weeks ago, growing near the creek at the “bottom” of our
land, and though I couldn’t take time to
stop and examine it that day, I reminded myself to check it out another
day. Its leaves looked like some sort of
mint- maybe peppermint or spearmint. If
it was, in fact, I would dig it up and bring it up to the house to be
transplanted here in our garden. Then, I
could experiment and maybe be able to enjoy it in some of my juices!
Today, being such a bea-uuu-tiful morning, I
decided to take my “boys,” Kodi and Augie, two of my closest buddies- Kodi, we rescued and Augie, our Blue Heeler-
on a ride on the golf cart to identify, and if necessary, retrieve that plant.
I gathered my cellphone (in case of emergency!) my camera
(in case I needed to capture some wonderful natural surprise!) my hand spade
and my gloves. I told my boys, “Let’s go
for a ride!” and as always, they took off in a mad dash to see who would take
shotgun this time. Kodi won, as usual.
The ride was enjoyable. The boys were happy , both riding along with
their noses jutted up into the air, taking in all the scents that elude our
human senses. I took a few photos of
edible plants and things to share with my Juicy Peeps online.
For my boys’ enjoyment, we took the “scenic route,” all
around the yard, down the driveway, back up the other driveway, around the
flower garden, around both vegetable gardens, around the outbuildings. When we got down to the bottom, we got off
the golf cart and walked all along the creek bank and took a few pictures. Negotiating the tall weeds was tricky in
spots, as it was all overgrown now, unlike earlier in the spring when we could
see every new plant coming up. Sad to
say, but what I thought might be peppermint or spearmint turned out to be a
weed.
When we rode back up from the bottom land, I decided to
treat the boys to a bit longer ride, since they so love
it. So I circled our five-acre property
a few times, zipping along quite fast, cutting corners short and laughing, in
the wind, at my boys, because even
though they loved it, both of them had learned to hunker down and brace
themselves and hang on for dear life when Mommy goes fast.
But all good things must come to an end and this was no
exception. I parked the cart in the old
barn and we all jumped down to head back for the house. I gathered up my gloves, camera , the hand spade and my Android……..uh,
wh…where’s my Android? WHERE THE HELL IS
MY ANDROID??!!!! It, unfortunately, was
nowhere to be seen.
I looked over the whole golf cart. No phone.
I checked my pockets, as I thought I had put it in my sweater
pocket. I checked my pockets again. I was in such a state of shock, I’m not completely
sure here, but I think I might have even
checked ‘em a third time! No phone. HOLY COW!!! ARE YOU
KIDDING ME?! We had just made a eight-mile
trek, round and round again, all over
God’s creation, from the top to the bottom, literally, and back again. And I had to now WALK every step of it to try
to find my cellphone?! Now here’s where
I need to insert some information:
The “top” land is our yard, it’s about 3 acres and
mowed. The “bottom” land is the other
SEVERAL ACRES! That’s not the worst part. The worst part is……(yes, I’m shouting
here) IT AIN’T MOWED!!!!!!!!!! It’s all weeds and those bad boys are at
least 2 feet tall, due to all the rain we’ve enjoyed lately!
My mind was racing. I
ran into the house and got the cordless phone and went back out to the barn to
begin tracing back over our path. I dialed
my cellphone and as I dialed, I said aloud to God, “Now God, I know we’re not
supposed to make deals with you, but here’s the deal: If you’ll just pleeeease help me find that
cellphone I’ll sing your praises to everyone I meet today.” I dialed the cell number and turned my ear to
the wind to listen for the ringtone melody I had downloaded months earlier. Nothing.
Holy cow.
“Start walking.” I’m
sure I heard Nancy Sinatra’s voice in my mind.
And so it began….my lonnnnng walk back around, over and
through the property. About twelve miles’
worth. Every now and then, I’d hit redial and turn my
ear up to the sky again. Nothing. Nothing.
Nothing. I found myself talking aloud
now:
“Are you serious?! I
mean, I’m juicefeasting. And while I’m
detoxing, I’m supposed to be KIND to my body…NOT go on a fifteen-mile hike! And this is ALL because I thought mint might
be good with my juice!”
I began to swear. A
lot. Aloud.
And that might be
why God said, “You’re on your own now, Kiddo.
Shame on you, Potty Mouth.”
Down the driveway. To
the road. Up the other drive. Around the front yard. Through “Mama’s
Garden.” Down through the orchard. Parallel the back garden. Down around the barn and outbuildings. I just didn’t know if I could make this seventeen-mile
hike all in one day. Things were looking grim.
I was getting desperate, as I was quickly running out of mowed lawn and was
fast approaching overgrown, weed-covered Never-Never Land.
Suddenly, like a choir from Heaven, I heard it. Oh my goodness….I stepped into those tall
weeds like a new fawn, fearless and oblivious to the possibility that snakes or
other not-so-pleasant creatures might be there, just waiting for an
unsuspecting creature like me to make a mistake.
But I couldn’t think about that. All I could think about, with a big smile on
my face now, is how much I loved the song that was wafting through the air. I zeroed in on the sweet, instrumental sounds
. Percy Faith. Theme From A Summer Place. Circa 1960. The one song in all of time that takes me
back to the sweetest, most carefree and lovely time of my childhood- swimming, boating and crab feasts on the
banks of the Potomac River in Southern Maryland; Percy Faith over the loud speakers perched in
the trees overlooking the river bank, and me, surrounded by family, and my mama
and daddy, who were both living then. Life
was good. Life was simple. Life was sweet. And I—was a happy girl.
For a moment, I stood still there, in the warm sunshine, not
in any hurry to pick up the phone,listening to
that song. And when I closed my eyes, I
could see my parents’ smiling faces. When it stopped, I opened my eyes and
realized I had been smiling, too.
As I slowly began to walk the 50 yards or so back toward the
house, three things occurred to me:
I’m a happy girl, NOW, too.
God is great.
And, I need a big, tall, cool juice.
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